'To Light a Candle' Film Screening & Panel Discussion

Event

Friday, February 27, 2015

'To Light a Candle' Film Screening & Panel Discussion

In 2009, Maziar Bahari was arrested and imprisoned as a prisoner of conscience. After an international outcry, he was eventually released and Jon Stewart turned his memoir, "Then They Came for Me" into the feature film Rosewater, release last year. One of the projects Bahari has worked on since his released is "To Light A Candle."

THIS Friday, February 27, 2015, seven Bahá'ís at Harvard are hosting a film screening to be followed by a panel discussion in Sever Hall, Room 113 at at 7:00pm.

The film screening will be followed by a panel discussion featuring Wall Street journalist Farnaz Fassihi, Harvard Divinity School professor Diane Moore, Boston University faculty and BIHE graduate Mojdeh Rohani, Iranian refugee and former BIHE student Aref Ebrahimi, and moderator and former Secretary-General of the Baha'i International Community Dr. Albert Lincoln.

This grassroots screening and panel discussion are part of Education Is Not a Crime Day: February 27, 2015. The campaign website, educationisnotacrime.me, will feature voices of support from citizens around the world, and will tell a comprehensive story of the Baha’is in Iran, a religious minority that has overcome severe persecution to build solidarity, fortitude and hope among its people through its passion for education.

Since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, the Baha’i community has been the target of systematic state-sponsored repression. Forbidden from attending or teaching at universities, the community established the Baha’i Institute for Higher Education (BIHE) in 1987. Through BIHE, the community has championed equality and non-violence, garnering support from educators around the world. Yet, its students and teachers still face enormous obstacles: classes are held in people’s homes and the threat of arrest is part of daily life.

The film and campaign are aimed at exposing social injustice andreligious intolerance through personal stories and rare footage

– often smuggled out of Iran at great personal risk. Education Is Not a Crime is a powerful statement
– not only about the spirit and determination of the Baha’is of Iran, but also about the vital role of education in building communities and sustaining hope.

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